MELRX8

I haven't sign anything like this posted before! My hood is a different shade of yellow than the surrounding body. Didn't notice on the showroom floor, can't see it from behind the wheel. Actually someone pointed it out to me. My dealer has agreed to repaint it, and I asked Mazda if that was cool or if I should have a new hood.

Their response was "Each Mazda dealership has access to Mazda's Quality Assurance Department via a technical hotline. This is offered to each dealership should they need assistance from Mazda with diagnosing or repairing a Mazda vehicle. Therefore, your dealership will have all of the information necessary, including Mazda technical resources and even direct support, to ensure that the repairs are done to specifications."

The work will be covered under the warranty for the time left.

Love the car! Not sure if I want it messed with.

StewC625

Can you tell if the hood has been repainted once already? Check the edges of it, as well as underneath for masking marks and overspray. I'm betting it got scratched in transit, they repainted it, sold it, and it doesn't match ... body panels are always painted "in place" when the car is built so that all the paint comes from the same dye lot and gun and therefore matches. Any mismatched body panel was not painted in the same run.

For the record, I have the appearance pack and in the right light you can see that the airdam and side aero spats are not an exact match to the rest of the car - that's because they are painted as parts, and installed after the car is assembled.

RX-Hachi

I'd also bet that StewC625 is right, the hood was probably repainted at some point, perhaps due to damage during transit from the factory to the dealer. The only other thing I could think of is that the hood being of aluminum, might make the color look slightly different from the steel panels. (But my hood is a perfect match, so I doubt it.)

But if it really is the original factory finish, I'd be tempted to say leave it alone. An aftermarket paint job, will likely be not as good as the original, especially as the dealer is paying for it. And who's to say it will match better. A new hood pre-painted from the factory will likely not be an exact match as well.

It all depends if you can live with it the way it is or not.

Rob Tomlin

I agree that it depends on whether you can live with it as is or not.

However, since a friend noticed it, and since the dealer itself agrees to repaint it, it would appear that this difference is, in fact, noticeable.

I would try to find out from your dealer what the reason for this is in the first place.

cgrx

I have a black 8 and there is a SLIGHT difference in the hood color and the front bumper....VERY SLIGHT

Rob Tomlin

I wonder if the fact the hood is made of a different material (aluminum) would have anything to do with this?

Then again, the freestyle doors are also aluminum, aren't they?

cgrx

That is what I was thinking. Painted ABS plastic and painted aluminum will look a bit different

MELRX8

I will look into all these ideas. The difference is most noticeable against the front bumper, but the bumper seems to match the fenders. The hood appears to be a warmer yellow against the fenders. The way the hood breaks down to the fender creates a difference in lighting making it less noticeable. If I can determine it was previously painted it ought to be worth a set of dark chrome wheels since I wasn't told!

MELRX8

This photo will show the color difference I'm concerned with.

Rob Tomlin

Hard to tell from the photo, but you can see some difference.

I don't know what I would do without seeing it in person.

Again, I would try to find out from your dealer why the paint doesn't match. What kind of reasons do they give you?

Low Fly'n 8

I say get it re-painted. If you don't, it will be the first thing you see every time you look at your car. It would drive me crazy.

Overport

if you love the car, and you can really tell there is a difference in color from the hood and rest of the body...get it repainted. she will be fine!

zoom44

on my monitor the color looks diferent on the front driver side area of the hood than the area towards the passenger side of the point of the rotor bulge and also back farther. is that how it seems in person?

Matt G

Are you sure your not comparing the hood to the front clip? Because I noticed a differance in color also but the hood is the same as the rest of the car while the front nose is a little different in shade...Probably because some components are made elseware and assembled later much like toyota truck beds that you see here on the highway in california...And colored paint shade can be different when darker/lighter primers are used...Who knows...

MELRX8

Zoom44: Yes, that is the way it looks in person. MATT G: Yes, the area below the hood is the ABS bumper cover. This is the most noticable. As it is pointed out in other post a slight difference can be expected because they are painted seperately. This is more than slight difference. Where the ABS joins the fender the difference is very slight, a similar difference was noted in a red and blue models on the showroom floor.

I'm meeting in the morning with the Service Manager and Body Shop Manager to get this resolved. I will post the outcome.

StewC625

Unless that panel has been painted since the factory, I wouldn't screw with it. My guess is that you're seeing the difference between the ABS front fascia (nose) and the metal hood.

The hood and all the metal panels all have a slight "orange peel" on them (where the paint, when you look across it to catch reflections allows you to see the paint texture), and the ABS panels generally do not = that difference alone can cause you to perceive the colors being different.

I've got a Lightning Yellow car as well, and I can see a color difference also between my front fascia and the hood/fenders, but it's really not color - it's different ways the paint reflect light.

Here's my car - at Sunday's autocross event: http://www.cowspot.net/autox

Notice the side areo spats and front dam also have a slight color difference.

It's the nature of the substrate material.

But, verify before you wave off being taken care of that the car HASN"T had any new paint since the factory ...

Stew

RodsterinFL

Speaking paint, does anyone know the paint color/type for the rear of the from seats. I have a bad scratch that damaged about an inch area.

zoom44

then my opinion is that someone sprayed that area and didnt do a good job. that had to have happened sometime after it left the factory.

Atacdad

I think the bumper looks faded...

SilverStreak

I own both an 8 and a 96 Miata. There has always been an apparent difference in the Miata's ABS nose and it's sheetmetal, slight but noticeable especially in daylight. Other older Miatas (especially the Red ones tend to show quite a difference in fading of the nose). Our Miata is garaged but does spend a lot of time outside and the nose paint does weather at a different rate than the sheetmetal. There is also a difference in the look (the "orange peel" in the hood vs. the smoother look of the nose as also noted by Stew). Best thing that I've done is to keep a good coat of wax on both, paint clay it and if the weathering difference is too noticable an ocassional polishing.

As far as painting goes, unless your problem is from some previous painting, I have tried to stay away from respraying. Good paint shops can do amazing paint matching but my personal opinion has been to try to do whatever is possible with the factory paint first to avoid any "blending" issues. I've had very good paint work done on my vehicles but I've also seen some poor paint matching.

Bottom line, if it really bothers you have something done and macke sure it is quality work, try detailing first then paint if you still aren't satisfied.

Pete

maybe some thing happend in transportation. The hood may have been repainted before the delivery. I used to work in sales for mazda. Service did it all the time !!!

Asked them is anything happend in transport.

MELRX8

So, okay, met with my dealer and went over the mismatch in paint color on the hood. It seems that after the lot boy (currently unemployed) backed the Mazdaspeed Miata into the drivers side front fender and scratched the wheel the fender was removed, repaired, repainted, and reinstalled, along with a new wheel. The hood was scratched during all this necessitating repainting.

Hmm, so that's why when I dropped in the Racing Beat air filter I noticed that the firewall and sidewall color was lighter as in less paint. Not unusual in itself but the drivers side fender was finish painted at its point of attachment, the passenger side was not. Again verifying that the fender was repainted off the car.

So being fair, I knew the wheel had been scratched and fender "dinged" at time of purchase. The finish was unblemished and perfect so we dropped the dealer installed spare tire from the invoice.

So the hood will be repainted with the understanding that the same quality and color match of the fender is the criteria for acceptance.

On a lighter note, I was given a Kia Optima as a loner and mentioned that most folks on the Forum ended up with Chevy Cavaliers. They told me I could have that if I wanted it! No thanks! So I got on the freeway headed home when I decided to adjust the power outside mirrior. As I worked the buttons to their destination the mirror glass fell out of the housing! There were two electrical wires to the mirror and figured I'd fix it at home. Got home, got the car in the garage and unlocked the doors. Wife got out, I was still locked in! After I opened the window and fiddled with the handle while pushing the unlock button it opened. Shoulda takin the Cavaier!

Rob Tomlin

Well, you are handling this a lot better than I would!

I would be very upset to find out that the car had been hit and repaired prior to purchase. But that's just me!

MELRX8

If I weren't laughin' I'd be cryin'. I'm gritting my teeth and looking for cooperation from the dealer in addressing these issues. Besides after reading Mr. Port & Polish "Renesis engine has durability problems, But ......" I figure I'll have bigger things to cry over. Does anyone know how long a replacement engine is warranty'd for?

Pete

SAME HERE!